


Banquo's Unwelcome Specter

by prosepeare



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: But this idea comes from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Creepy, Daddy needs to talk, Gen, Hallucinations, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, Not the best fic for someone who wants woobiefication, Title is a Macbeth reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 13:19:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6471460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prosepeare/pseuds/prosepeare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Han Solo shows up in his son's quarters for a little talk...(Post TFA)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Banquo's Unwelcome Specter

Kylo Ren had entered his private rooms in a fury – which in itself wasn’t unusual.

It had been another day of fierce training, another day of endless bickering with General Hux, and another day of dissatisfaction with the progress (or lack thereof) of battling the Resistance and finding where the last Jedi – and his new protégée – were.

The last one was especially frustrating, and the cause of most of his current anger. The moment at Starkiller Base where what should have been – what _should_ be – _his_ lightsaber had gone flying past him, into _her_ hand.

The implication was, to say the least, unsettling.

He yanked off his mask, sending it into the tray of ashes – the reminders of his victories – and stared into the room’s single mirror (very few mirrors were allowed after the Starkiller souvenir).  The scavenger’s ‘gift’ was as prominent as ever, despite all medical treatments. Tracing its imprint on his face, that day at the base vividly flashed through his mind. His secret laid bare at the hands of a not-even-novice, Hux’s gloating about Ren’s failure, the scavenger escaping, and then…

“I still don’t see why you wear that mask,” a horribly familiar voice said. “Even if it’s only for vanity’s sake. You don’t really _need_ it, not like _he_ did.”

To Ren’s shock, the owner of that familiar voice’s reflection was now next to his own, as if standing right behind him: Han Solo. _Fa-_

“What are _you_ doing here?!” he spat.

The too-well-known casual shrug. “Checking up, of course.”

“Don’t _be_ like that! This is just-taunting, is all. You always did that.”

“Not to you, though, Ben.” The infernal voice said in something like a plea. “Never to you.” The gaze flickered towards the urn and the mask. “Well, you’re certainly trying to top the old man – though, of course, never got to know him very well. Keeping mementos of your victims…very serial killer of you. In addition to regularly scheduled sessions of being a serial _plagiarizer_.. _._ ”

“Oh, shut up!” Ren clenched his fists, teeth grinding. “Don’t act so…so flippant. I know what you all think. You think I’m weak…that I can still ‘come back’…well, it’s not-“

“I think that you’re confused.” The voice still sounded so casual, the posture of the reflection so unconcerned. “You expected that the Dark Side, that Snoke, would make you the most powerful being in the galaxy. That once I was out of the way, there would be nothing stopping you, holding you back. Well, it didn’t solve your problems. It _clearly_ didn’t make you invincible. It didn’t stop Rey from finding Luke Skywalker-“

“DON’T SAY THEIR NAMES!!” The roar didn’t even cause Han to flinch.

“And, I mean, after what happened to _me_ , you think that she’s going to be happy the next time she faces you, with _that_ lightsaber, after what she’s already done to you?” The nod towards the scar sent Ren’s hand up unconsciously towards it, as if he could hide it. “I mean, she got the lightsaber, she’s ‘strong with the Force’ and she’s got Luke to train her-“

“It won’t matter,” Ren snarled. “I’ll find them before she can finish. I’ll kill Skywalker…and then I’ll kill her too. And then, when her friend, the traitor, comes for her, too busy crying over her body, he’ll die too.”

“And then your mother. And then every last member of the Resistance…which could take a while. And then every connection they’ll have who’ll want to avenge them. And then every other enemy the First Order will get from that. And then…well, I was never Force-sensitive, but even _I’m_ sensing a pattern here.” Ren looked down, a scowl inprinted upon his face. “You’ll never be able to _stop_ killing. You’ll have created all these enemies, and for the rest of your life, even if you do become ‘Darth Vader 2.0’ or his successor or outdo him or whatever, you’ll always fear when seated on your throne – or seated at Snoke’s, serving in Hell – that one day, some of them will finally overthrow you!”

“Well, what else can I _do_?!” Ren laughed, a hysterical note to it. “I killed all my schoolmates – who would have been my rivals – I’ve killed so many other people who never did anything to deserve it, I killed you, my own father – anything approaching trying to ‘return to the Light’ would be pointless, would be near impossible. Why would I want to, anyway? Protecting the weak, never knowing what real power is – this _is_ still mightier than anything Skywalker would have ever taught me, and I’m not even done. Everyone might mock me, when they think I can’t hear, but I’ll pay them back. And the fact they don’t dare to do it to my face…let them, so long as they’re too afraid to say it to my face. As long as fear keeps them in line, kneeling. Let them hate me.” He delivered a powerful glare to his father’s – _Han Solo’s_ – still unruffled reflection. “Even you hate me now.”

A tired smile, bewildering in its warmth. “You’re my son, Ben…how could I ever hate you?”

That did it. Tears of rage built up in his eyes, and with a furious roar, Kylo Ren turned to grab his lightsaber, and swung the blade into the mirror, shattering it, before falling to his knees.

A few moments of furious, wild thoughts flying through his head passed by before the realization finally struck him.

When he had turned around, even briefly, he had not seen anyone there. He had only interacted with- _Han Solo_ -through the mirror. And the man was dead. Had never been Force-sensitive – further impeding Kylo Ren’s blood connection and strength with the Force, a fact he knew Ren had blamed him for – and so there was no possibility of returning as one of those ghosts Ren had heard-Skywalker-talk about.

There was the brief, impossible flash of desperate hope – that Ren himself was so powerful that he could have brought this-visitor-to him. But why would he ever have?

No. The one possibility that remained, the dreadful, disturbing, unsettling, agonizing, haunting possibility…

There had never been anyone in this room but Kylo Ren, no one speaking but Kylo Ren. He had been – a cold shudder going through his body at the realization – talking to himself the whole time.

**Author's Note:**

> This scene takes inspiration from a scene in 'Into the Inferno', from the fabulous TV show 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'  
> Title is a reference to Macbeth.  
> The thing about the ashes comes from a piece of information that was released about what exactly Kylo Ren places his mask on in the interrogation scene.


End file.
